Two young women shared their experiences Thursday about enduring homelessness and the importance of staying in school despite the odds.

They addressed an audience of more than 60 people at the ninth annual Lenawee County Homeless Education conference at Siena Heights University. Because the students’ family lives are of a sensitive nature, neither one was publicly identified.

Adrian Public Schools Homeless Liaison Beth McCullough said part of helping families and students who are homeless is to break the stigma that surrounds those who find themselves in the situation.

“These are motivated kids in that the way out of some of the difficulties they’ve found in their lives is through high school and college graduation,” McCullough said. “These are good kids who find themselves in homeless situations. Setting aside judgments and suspending our conclusions is very important to their success.”

The first guest speaker of the day said she grew up in Onsted, then moved around following her parents’ divorce. Her mother eventually became addicted to drugs and she moved into her father’s house, where she said she struggled with her father’s alcoholism and her stepmother’s abuse.

“It was not an ideal living situation,” she said.

By age 17, the speaker said she was taking care of her six siblings and stepsiblings, and that her dreams of going on to college were being stifled.

“I was told by my family I wasn’t smart enough to go to college, and I needed to stay home and help with the family,” she said.

Knowing she had to break free to move on to college, she made the decision to leave her living situation behind and move in with a friend. She said her parents attempted to thwart her efforts to apply for college by refusing to present required tax information.

That is when McCullough stepped in, the speaker said. Without a solid home life and living temporarily with a friend, she managed to apply without their help and is now a sophomore at the University of Michigan.

“Just because I was homeless and I was abused did not make me a lesser,” she said. “My parents said no matter what, I was going to be a failure. If this is failure, I’m doing all right.”

She said being proactive in getting herself out of her situation was the answer to success in her life.

“What didn’t work for me was pity,” she said.

The second speaker, set to graduate Saturday from Spring Arbor University, said she had a similar background, growing up in an abusive household. She said she found herself in despair at her situation, and at one point began harming herself to get the attention of others as a cry for help.

Page 2 of 2 - “I thought if this is all life has to offer, I don’t want it,” she said.

She ended up staying with others, but tragedy, rumors and false judgment seemed to follow wherever she went, she said.

With the help of McCullough, the second speaker said, she was able to rise above her life situation and go to college.

“I thank God every day for those who came alongside me to help,” she said. “They saw what I could be and wouldn’t let me settle for anything less.”

McCullough said there are 200 documented homeless students in Lenawee County, and school districts are still reporting their numbers. Last year, 671 students were documented as displaced from home settings, or living with friends and relatives or at shelters.

McCullough said she is proud of the two ladies for not giving up when their situations were grim.